Transcript for Making History: 2013 Inauguration Crowd on Pace to Set Record

Thank you so much, david muir. How about the crowds, hundreds of thousands of people traveling so far and waiti iing so long in the cold this morning? Abc's cecilia vega was there. Good morning, welcome to the inauguration. Reporter: Hours before the ceremonies began, people from every state were streaming into the nation's capitol to witness history unfold. This family driving ten hours from chattanooga. We did not want to miss an important moment in history. Reporter: Not even the temperatures could dampen this crowd's enthusiasm. I love barack. Reporter: You're glowing when you say that. All over washington, crowds, crowds and more crowds. Just to give you an idea of how many people are out here, this is a group of people waiting to pass through a security checkpoint to go watch the parade and I want to show you something else. Just right over here, excuse us, there's an entirely different group of people, they say they have been waiting in line for at least an hour. The internet lit up. People in the crowd posing their own pictures online, waiting for that big moment. You and I as citizens have the power to set this country's He is, again, a president of the people. He is the president of the people. Reporter: For others, tears of joy. We were slaves and today we are free. I am happy. Reporter: Abc's bill weir caught up with john mulholland and reginald green, arrested as freedom riders 50 years ago. The fact that obama could be elected again shows that the stone of hope, it came out of the mountain of despair that king spoke of and there is hope. Reporter: A sentiment likely shared by so many on the mall today, including the man they all came to see. Cecilia vega, abc news, washington. And here again, george stephanopoulos, great to spend the day with you. So, did anything happen today that changed the political possibilities? I don't think so. One day, one speech cannot dot th do that. This is the day that america comes together, and that was a big theme today. One of the things I think we saw today was a very changed president. And this is a very different time and a very different president from the one that took office four years ago. The speech four years ago, a dark speech. For a dark time. We were mired in crisis. The economy begins to come back and what you saw today is, the president gave a meditation on freedom. And equality. A president that felt free. And so give me one indelible image from the hours we spent together today. H, the one has got to be when the president turned back. When he turned back and looked over that mall and said he wanted to savor this moment. An african-american president, the first in our history, re-elected and giving a second inaugural address. On martin looumeuther king day. Thank you george. And as george knows, today is a

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